


There Grows the Red

by Goblinworx



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Red Templar Cullen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:29:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goblinworx/pseuds/Goblinworx
Summary: After the defeat of Corypheus, the Inquisition captured the Knight-Commander Cullen Rutherford of the Red Templar forces. His punishment? To be a test subject on experimental red lyrium cures.
Relationships: Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan, Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. The Sentence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Inquisitor sits in judgement of Cullen Rutherford.

Eerie red eyes followed the Inquisitor through the bars of the cage, their soft glow more pronounced in the dim light. 

Inquisitor Trevelyan met the gaze with a weariness beyond her years. It had been so long fighting and struggling against a seemingly impossible foe, and now that it was done they had the cast-offs of a failed God to contend with.

This particular prisoner had been a leader in their uprising, had directed the command for the red Templars to inflict misery on so many Innocents that his crimes could not be overlooked.

"Knight-Commander," the Inquisitor greeted. 

The prisoner offered a half smirk in return, "Mage."

Another came into view beside the Inquisitor, broad shoulders slumped and visage dark and full of dread. 

"Ah, and the Champion's faithful lapdog," the prisoner remarked, venom and amusement mingling in his voice through his sneer.

"Curly, what happened to you?" Varric asked sadly. "You were better than this. You never wanted anyone hurt. What made you such a monster?"

The prisoner stood now, striding toward the bars of the cage until he faltered and caught himself on the bars with a grunt, face twisting in pain. "Can't you hear it? The whispers in the dark, voices of the abominations… the real monster stands beside you, dwarf, celebrated by ignorant fools too blinded by their love of Andraste to see the threat that has raised to such power!" 

The Inquisitor looked sadly to Varric, who reached out to touch the prisoner's hand strained white against the prison bars. 

The red templar commander jerked his hand away, hissing, "Don't bother." He straightened, proud as he could stand in plain garb and in such pain. That same self-sure smirk returned. "I don't need your mock pity. Or have you come to gloat because you've defeated that Magister? I care not that Corypheus is dead, mage. Really I would have killed him eventually. One can't suffer a mage to live, after all. No more than one can live with a sword to their throat."

Varric looked to the Inquisitor as though pleading, but said nothing.

The Inquisitor did not look to Varric as she spoke. "Cullen Rutherford of Honnleath, traitor to all the peoples of Thedas, you are sentenced to become a test subject in Dagna's research. You shall spend your remaining days with us here in Skyhold, your body used to find ways to purge red lyrium from the inflicted. May you endure whatever treatments she administers."

The templar laughed bitterly, "May the Maker see me dead before any part of me aids your cause."


	2. The Prisoner's Transfer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cullen gets new accommodations for his extended stay.

The fear of contamination was palpable during the short stay the red templar commander had in the dungeons. The Inquisitor suspected the prisoner's meals had been neglected out of such fear, as the next couple weeks saw the man thin out. Or perhaps it was the lyrium sickness now that he had been cut off from his supply?

Either way, it became apparent that he needed improved accomodations now that he had become a permanent resident of Skyhold. Dagna had to design it herself, sufficient enough to ensure no red lyrium spread, and perhaps even delay the decay of the prisoner himself.

The walls were layered with stones, minerals, and runes, constructed inside one of the castle towers on the top floor. A barrier was specially constructed at the door that allowed anyone not tainted by the red lyrium to pass. All others it would forcefully stop and inflict jolts of pain not unlike electricity. 

The inside was made to be more comfortable than the man deserved. Tapestries covered the walls, softening the interior and giving it a more homely feel. He had his own large, soft bed, chest of drawers, a well-stocked bookshelf, as well as a small writing desk. The desk contained only soft chalk to write with, the room purged of what could reasonably be considered a weapon. 

Cassandra and the Inquisitor oversaw his transfer personally with Dagna in tow. Several guards accompanied them, with one on either side of the prisoner to ensure he was well-behaved as they moved.

"It's been so excited to design this room," Dagna practically danced behind them as they marched the red templar upstairs. "I can't wait to see how well it works! You'll let me know if you feel anything when you walk in, right? I wonder if you would! Would it feel like a weird vibration? I don't think it would hurt but wouldn't it be fascinating if it did?"

The former Knight Commander turned to look over his shoulder to glare at the dwarf, but Cassandra blocked his view with a glare of her own. "Keep moving," she said flatly.

Cullen grit his teeth, his jaw tensing. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead grunted in pain and fell to one knee on the tower steps, his breath shallow and ragged.

The Inquisitor immediately stopped, her touch gentle as she set a hand on his shoulder. "I know it hurts. We're almost there."

He jerked away with a snarl, "Don't touch me, mage!"

Cassandra narrowed her eyes and seized him roughly by one arm to haul him to his feet. "Do not waste kindness on this creature," she looked to him in disgust. "I am loathe to keep a viper in our home as it is."

The Inquisitor was troubled, and her face did not mask the feeling well. "I like to believe that kindness is part of what sets us apart, Cassandra, but I understand how you feel." She turned and continued on. 

Cassandra followed behind, directing the guards to drag the weak, struggling, pain-wrecked man up the stairs . She would glower as her charge muttered an occasional curse under his breath, yet said nothing in response.

As he was brought through the threshold and barrier, Cullen would grunt and buckle once more, the trembling in his legs so fierce that he could not stand. The guard would release their hold on his arms, dropping him unceremoniously into his new room to collapse on the floor under the pressure of his pain. A cold sweat beaded on his brow, his eyes growing hazy and unfocused. 

"Lyrium sickness is a doozy, huh?" Dagna commented, her tone sad and sympathetic. "First time seeing it firsthand. I wonder if the room is making it worse? I hypothesized it might after all at first. Can you tell me what you're feeling?"

Cullen curled into a ball of quaking and trembling, barely managing out a hoarse, "Fuck yourself!" before he grit his teeth to stifle the whimpers of pain. Within moments he was murmuring incoherently, weakly batting at invisible terrors in the air.

"Hmm, yeah, I'll take that as a room-inflicted episode. He'll be fine in a few hours. Probably," Dagna wrung her hands with worry.. "I'm going to stay and observe for a while, but it'd probably be best to get him a healer."

The Inquisitor looked to Cassandra, whose eyes were fixed on the trembling figure on the floor. "Let him experience the pain he has given to others," the Seeker grit her teeth. Her expression was hard and furious, and why would it not be? So much senseless death and torment because of the quivering man on the floor. No one knew what he might do or if or how he may try to escape. He was a huge liability, and extremely dangerous despite current appearances. 

Yet despite knowing this was their enemy, Trevelyan could not stand to hear someone in such pain. After all, doing nothing to ease suffering felt the same to her as inflicting the torment herself. They were not torturers, and she wanted to believe they were better than leaving someone to suffer so. 

The Inquisitor sighed, stepping forward and calling power to her hands. The red templar did not notice her touch, nor did she heed the small word of protest from Cassandra. They came to rest at his temple and his shoulder, blue light pulsing through her and into him. 

He weakly turned to look up at her, eyes unfocused as he whispered, "I'm sorry, Mia." A tear slid down his face as they closed, his body going slack.

Cassandra fumed, "That was reckless! He may have been bluffing and waiting for a moment to strike."

The Inquisitor stood back up, dusting off her robes. When she looked to Cassandra, it was with a weary smile. "We can be better than he was."

The Seeker's wrath faded at this, something akin to shame coloring her features. "Of course."

An uncomfortable silence settled into the room, the pair both staring at the sleeping man on the floor. Dagna was both happy and eager to break it. "Much easier to study this way, if you ask me! Just think of the good we'll be able to do if we can manage to cure him. It would be best if we could get Varric's girlfriend back here. She studied it, didn't she? Knowing what she found would be so helpful."

"I'll see what I can do."


End file.
